Editors’ Collection

Our Best Birthday Cakes

Celebrate your favorite person with these delicious birthday cakes from NYT Cooking.

Linda Xiao for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Yossy Arefi.

Recipes

Classic White Cake
Yossy Arefi
262 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
262
2 hours 20 minutes
or to save this recipe.
Chocolate Layer Cake
Claire Saffitz
1234 ratings with an average rating of 5 out of 5 stars
1,234
2¼ hours
or to save this recipe.
Rainbow Sprinkle Cake
Julia Moskin, Candace Nelson
4464 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
4,464
1½ hours, plus cooling
or to save this recipe.
Strawberry Layer Cake
Lisa Donovan
202 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
202
2 hours 40 minutes
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Carrot Cake
Dorie Greenspan
11449 ratings with an average rating of 5 out of 5 stars
11,449
1 hour 30 minutes, plus at least 15 minutes' refrigeration
or to save this recipe.
Blueberry Lemon Layer Cake
Adrianna Adarme
70 ratings with an average rating of 5 out of 5 stars
70
1 hour 30 minutes
or to save this recipe.
Chocolate Birthday Cake
Eric Kim
444 ratings with an average rating of 5 out of 5 stars
444
1 hour 20 minutes, plus cooling and chilling
or to save this recipe.
Strawberry Lemonade Cake
Yossy Arefi
1258 ratings with an average rating of 5 out of 5 stars
1,258
90 minutes, plus 50 minutes cooling and chilling
or to save this recipe.
Princess Cake
Nicola Lamb
388 ratings with an average rating of 5 out of 5 stars
388
About 3 hours
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Easy Chocolate Cake
Yossy Arefi
1715 ratings with an average rating of 5 out of 5 stars
1,715
About 2 hours
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Chocolate-Chocolate Birthday Cake
Dorie Greenspan
3378 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
3,378
Baking and cooling: About 3 hours
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Rum-Raisin Carrot Cake
Vaughn Vreeland
270 ratings with an average rating of 5 out of 5 stars
270
2¼ hours
or to save this recipe.
Baked Alaska
Lidey Heuck
138 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
138
About 7 hours 20 minutes
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Southern Red Velvet Cake
Kim Severson, Adams Extract Company
3570 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
3,570
1 hour
or to save this recipe.
Chocolate Birthday Cake Butter Mochi
Sara Bonisteel, Sheldon Simeon
909 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
909
1 hour 15 minutes, plus cooling
or to save this recipe.
Vanilla Cake
Lidey Heuck
513 ratings with an average rating of 5 out of 5 stars
513
1 hour and 50 minutes
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Strawberry and Cream Layer Cake
Claire Saffitz
2475 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
2,475
2 hours
or to save this recipe.
Coconut Layer Cake
Melissa Clark, Larissa Raphael
1753 ratings with an average rating of 5 out of 5 stars
1,753
2 hours, plus cooling
or to save this recipe.
Yellow Sheet Cake With Chocolate Frosting
Erin Jeanne McDowell
2159 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
2,159
45 minutes
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Gluten-Free Yellow Sheet Cake
Brian Levy
95 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
95
1 hour 10 minutes, plus cooling (or 3 hours with frosting)
or to save this recipe.
Southern Caramel Cake
Millie Peartree
2017 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
2,017
50 minutes, plus cooling
or to save this recipe.
Classic Birthday Cake
Alison Roman
2304 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
2,304
About 1 hour 15 minutes plus chilling
or to save this recipe.
Hawaiian Guava Cake
Kiera Wright-Ruiz, Alana Kysar
1419 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
1,419
50 minutes, plus chilling
or to save this recipe.
Lemon Cupcakes
Samantha Seneviratne
274 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
274
40 minutes, plus cooling
or to save this recipe.
Cardamom Cream Cake
Melissa Clark
973 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
973
2½ hours, plus cooling
or to save this recipe.
Black Forest Cake
Samantha Seneviratne
1105 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
1,105
1½ hours, plus chilling
or to save this recipe.
Seis Leches Cake
Melissa Clark
1827 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
1,827
1 hour, plus cooling and chilling
or to save this recipe.
Blackout Cake
The New York Times, Ebinger’s
2292 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
2,292
3 hours plus chilling
or to save this recipe.
Sponge Cake
Claire Saffitz
2176 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
2,176
50 minutes
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Ambrosia Cake
Melissa Clark
503 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
503
3 hours
or to save this recipe.
Hummingbird Cake
Vallery Lomas
1810 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
1,810
1 hour
or to save this recipe.
Chocolate Tres Leches Cake
Margaux Laskey, Odette Williams
730 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
730
50 minutes, plus soaking
or to save this recipe.
Magnolia Bakery’s Cupcakes
Susan Campos
3552 ratings with an average rating of 5 out of 5 stars
3,552
About 45 minutes
or to save this recipe.
Cranberry-Lemon Stripe Cake
Tejal Rao, Yotam Ottolenghi, Helen Goh
565 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
565
2 hours, plus baking/cooling
or to save this recipe.
Devil's Food White-Out Cake
Emily Weinstein, Dorie Greenspan
295 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
295
1 hour 40 minutes, plus 1 hour's refrigeration
or to save this recipe.
Milk and Honey Cake
Melissa Clark, Odette Williams
1372 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
1,372
1¼ hours, plus cooling
or to save this recipe.
Ruth Reichl’s Giant Chocolate Cake
Kim Severson, Ruth Reichl
2308 ratings with an average rating of 5 out of 5 stars
2,308
1½ hours
or to save this recipe.
Red Velvet Cupcakes
Millie Peartree
678 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
678
45 minutes
or to save this recipe.
Chocolate Church Cake
Lisa Donovan
1910 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
1,910
1 hour, plus cooling
or to save this recipe.
Flourless Chocolate Cake
Genevieve Ko
4701 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
4,701
1 hour 15 minutes
or to save this recipe.
Peach-Raspberry Ice Cream Cake
Samantha Seneviratne
335 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
335
1 hour, plus 8 hours' chilling
or to save this recipe.
Chocolate Hazelnut Crepe Cake
Samantha Seneviratne
467 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
467
2 hours, plus 4 hours' chilling
or to save this recipe.
Lisbon Chocolate Cake
Dorie Greenspan
5130 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
5,130
About 1 hour, plus cooling
or to save this recipe.
Spumoni Ice Cream Cake
Ali Slagle
877 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
877
50 minutes, plus 6 hours’ freezing
or to save this recipe.
Chocolate Chestnut Cake
David Tanis, Alice Medrich
490 ratings with an average rating of 5 out of 5 stars
490
1 hour
or to save this recipe.
Birthday Baked Alaska
Dorie Greenspan, Zoë François
684 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
684
About 1 hour, plus at least 7 hours’ freezing
or to save this recipe.
Chocolate-Cherry Cake
Eric Kim
575 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
575
1 hour, plus cooling
or to save this recipe.
Orange Creamsicle Ice Cream Cake
Ali Slagle
788 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
788
20 minutes, plus 2 hours’ freezing
or to save this recipe.
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